Yaroslavl: Friday, Sep. 21

 

          It just keeps getting better.  Today we were in Yaroslavl, a lovely city, and the weather was beautiful.  At breakfast we met 2 American guys who told Larry that one of them, Ed, was heading straight for the internet café.  Larry decided to join him, so I was on my own with instructions to take lots of pictures.  We stopped near the late 17^th century church of the Epiphany for photos. 

 It’s lovely with ceramic tiles on the outside walls.  Bells were ringing and a service was going on so we didn’t go in.  Next stop was the Society of Artists where we admired local art and saw many  lacquered boxes from 4 cities that are famous for them.  Myrna entertained us at the grand piano in the concert hall.

          At the Transfiguration Monastery we enjoyed a bell-ringing show and a walk through the grounds, where we saw an orchard, rose garden, wonderfully eccentric wooden beehives and linden trees (a.k.a. “lime trees” in UK).

         

At the Church of St. Elijah the Prophet we heard the story of how the use of the church by the Soviets as a storage warehouse for felt boots saved the frescoes from destruction.  It seems the boots absorbed moisture and the frescoes stayed dry. There is also a small “winter church” where we heard an excellent choir.

          Back at the city centre we crossed paths with Larry who was going with another group to St. Elijah’s.  Dave, M-E & I wondered through the market and picked up some snacks and beer.  We were back on the ship for lunch, then actually had free time until late afternoon.  I went o a “master class” on blinys ( Russian pancakes ), then met Larry in the restaurant for a bliny-tasting party with caviar and several kinds of vodka.  We’re mastering the Russian way of drinking it down in one gulp after screaming “nazdarov’ye”.

          Just before dinner we passed through a large lock into a lake [ the Rybinskae Reservoir ].  We were invited to the upper deck to see the Lady of the Volga statue and enjoy the sunset.  After dinner was the “Mr Cruise” Show in the lounge.  Larry has sworn me to secrecy, so we’ll see if he blogs this – there were 5 candidates/competitors, including Larry and Dave McNaught.  They competed in 5 things – poetry ( reading Humpty Dumpty while expressing some mood.  Larry’s was “you’ve been offended by your grandmother”);  haberdashery – sort of musical hats; weight lifting; acting; and dancing.  

In the end Larry was declared “Mr. Poet” and Dave “Mr. Cruise”.  It was all quite fancy and garnered and official certificate and a bottle of vodka.

Photos 21 Sep Yaroslavl